"Where do ah go from 'ere?" Rogue asked herself as she stared at her feet while resting her elbows on her thighs.
Once more, no one came to get her.
She sighed.
"Grown woman, sittin' on a bench, waitin' for her Momma to come pick 'er up," she muttered bitterly, "nevah thought ah'd be here at my age…."
She sat on a bench in New York's central park under a shady tree and out of sight from anyone swinging overhead.
Not a single person disturbed her. Not that she blamed them, she was sure she was the perfect picture of crazy. Though she supposed she wasn't the only one looking like that. She was just surprised that no one was after her.
She was dressed in a dark green body suit with a brown overcoat and a white(but stained) ragged scarf around her neck, and a set of brown leather gloves. All of it has seen better days, and the weather didn't quite justify them.
After the Brotherhood attacked the Avengers, and she absorbed a bit of Miss Marvel, stuff quickly went south. Too quick.
There were street level heroes she's never heard of jumping into the fight, like some bastard in red with two Ds on his chest just jumping out of nowhere and hitting their backline before scurrying away. But where things really went south was when Spider-Man showed up.
He was one of the more well-known "street-level" heroes in New York. He's been around for years and is pretty controversial. Everyone has a different opinion of him, some say hero, other cry menace. The Brotherhood of Mutants had a different label for him: traitor.
They were more or less sure he was a mutant, but one that would stand in their way, like the X-men. The fact that he wore what looked like a ridiculous full body suit was initially highlighted as potential problem for Rogue….But they didn't think he would be a problem. The guy handled petty thieves and helped kittens out of trees. He also isn't seen working with other heroes and the daily bugle labels the guy a public menace, so he was probably more of a showboater than a real threat. How much trouble could a lanky guy in a red-blue spidey-themed onesie really be?
They were wrong.
He had webbed Miss Marvel out of Rogue's hands, stopping her from draining her. And when she flew at him with her newly acquired flight and attacked him with the new super strength…he matched her! Even carol-Miss Marvel, barely conscious, was shocked by the sight. 'Course, Rogue was able to force more power and nearly overpower him, but he had more than just strength-he had webs and wasn't shy about using them. He was also more than willing to swing away!
The slippery bastard never stayed in one spot! Every time she tried to catch him, he'd get away! And every time she focused on him, an actual avenger got shot in against her. And when she fought back, freakin' spider-man swung in outta nowhere to hit her and then get out of her reach! He nearly had her webbed to the wall and ground a few times! It also made defending her people hard.
And the worst part? The one that really grinded her gears down smooth?
HE. JOKED. THE. ENTIRE. DAMN. TIME!
They weren't even good jokes! A good chunk was just him poking fun at the way she talked! She couldn't help the way she was raised, and having someone poke fun at it and even suggest it wasn't legit pissed her off!
And then…she ran out of power. She didn't touch Miss Marvel that long, so whatever power she took ran out. The tide turned against them fast. Rogue was lucky she was able to avoid being captured as they retreated. It was humiliating and extremely demoralizing.
In addition to losing in very public manner that damaged their reputation, many of their mutant brothers were captured reducing both their strength and security. It also made Mystique pissed as all hell, taking out Miss Marvel and stealing her power was part 1 of their plan. And she let Rogue have it.
Rogue tried to apologize, tried to calm her adoptive mother down, but she was too wound up. And the looks everyone who was left in their chapter gave her too. She was supposed to hold on to Miss Marvel, she was supposed to hold on for death life. She didn't, and when she failed, they failed. And she could see it in all their eyes silently blaming her.…
She ran.
Not far, but she ran.
She hoped her momma would cool down, track her down, and tell her to come home.
Her first night on the run, being alone again, she was almost convinced that she was being tracked down by heroes. The bastard in red and blue was swinging around and it freaked her. She didn't sleep a wink that night. She kept on a constant move, only spent what little money she had when she couldn't stand the bite of hunger anymore. Thankfully, no hero came, but neither did her momma.
When day broke, she found a secluded bench to rest, just nod off a little…a few jackasses found her an acceptable target to harass. Huge mistake on their part. She left them alive on the bench, in a very compromising position. She sapped enough energy to stay awake the second day, got more cash from the duo, their thoughts and their failed attempt further fueled her hatred of humans.
Near the end of her second day, she decided to give one of the shelters a try, not holding her breath. She half expected to have the cops and heroes called in on for acting in self defense again. But it didn't happen.
The shelter she went to, F.E.A.S.T., ended up being alright. The staff were kind and didn't ask questions. They had warm meals they made from scratch, offered showers, and even had a serviceable laundry service. Even the other people who stayed, while having quirks of their own, respected her space. One of the workers, an old lady by the name of Miss Parker, kinda gave her actual faith in humanity, one she didn't know she was in the market for. There were times she wanted to take the old lady up on her offer to use the shelter's resources and try to build her life back together.
But Rogue refused.
She was part of the brotherhood, she…she picked her side. She was in too deep to quit now. But ol' Parker was mighty persistent; she was also kind to boot with a can do attitude. If Rogue stayed, that lady might actually convert her, and she'd leave her people behind. Rogue couldn't do that, especially not to her momma.
So she left, only returning when she really needed to.
And that kinda became her life for a while.
Waiting in public areas, turning the tables on jackasses who thought of her as an easy mark and taking her due in money and energy(and using their smartphone until the battery died before junking it), and finding shelter when she needed it, trying her best not to go back to F.E.A.S.T. unless she had no other choice.
A few days quickly became weeks, and still no sign of her momma.
Rogue sighed and decided to call it a day.
She stood up and began making her way out of the park.
Her stomach growled when she smelled hotdogs from a nearby vendor.
She frowned.
She reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a few crumbled wads and coins. Not enough for a lousy hotdog, and the last thing she would do is beg for charity.
She bit her bottom lip and kept walking.
As she was exiting the park she saw that group of kids got a balloon stuck in a tree. She eyed the balloon. It didn't seem that far up, she could probably get it…. She turned and walked out of the park and onto a sidewalk.
"What would be the point in playin' hero for a couple of rascals, anyway?" she muttered to herself, part angry, and part…guilt? Regret?
Thwip
Her whole body went stiff. She had grown to fear that sound.
"Now how did that get there?" a familiar voice said.
"Oh c'mon," she muttered under her breath. There was a car parked nearby, she looked at the window's reflection to see Spider-Man standing on the tree.
"Spider-Man, Spider-Man, the wind blew it there." a kid said followed by others saying something similar in that vein.
"Oh it did, did it? We'll show the wind! First I'll return your balloon then get revenge by planning to build a wind turbine! We'll make harvest the power of the wind and make it ours!"
"...You're weird." One of the kids said.
Rogue snorted a little, but kept herself calm as she kept walking. She grabbed her right wrist with her left hand as she controlled her breathing. From the next car's reflection she could see Spider-Man deflate at the comment.
"Eh, I rather call myself 'creative'. Here you go, have fun, kiddo!" Spider-Man said as he crawled down the tree with a balloon. The kids took the balloon and quickly walked away.
Then he looked in her direction. Her heart upped the tempo it was feeling, and she did her best to calmly walk away. One foot in front of the other, and try to look normal as she glanced at his reflection in the next car ahead of her.
He kept staring in her direction…then suddenly snapped his head to look in the other direction. Sirens started going off in the distance.
THWIP!
She did flinch that time.
She looked around, and she could see Spider-Man already swinging half way down the street chasing after the cops.
She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding in.
She cannot put to words how horrifying it was to see her brothers in arms suddenly get yanked away. Or to be pulled by it yourself-and she had flight at the time! And every thing someone got yanked by spidey-it was accompanied by that damn sound. That sound was ingrained in her memory in the worst way possible!
It took a tick for her body to calm down, and the adrenaline to stop making her body jittery.
She looked herself over in the side-mirror of the car next to her, and yeup, picture of crazy unless you didn't focus to hard.
"Ah'm surprised he didn't recognize me," she muttered as she played with a few locks of her gray hair that contrasted heavily with her reddish brown curly locks. "Though, ah supposed my hair got burlier." It was definitely longer. If she didn't know any better, it almost looked like an afro.
Considering the close call she had with Spider-Man, it might be better to take the subway….
She had taken a train back to the F.E.A.S.T. She had a couple of passes she pilfered from a few assholes, one of them worked. It also helped that the train wasn't as full at the time and people gave her a wide berth. That left her feeling a bit complicated, but thankful nonetheless.
She exited out of the subway and with a sigh, began to make her way to F.E.A.S.T. She didn't know Ol' Parker's schedule but she hoped she wasn't around. The lady was too sweet for own good…. It's a shame more people weren't like her. If they were, then maybe the brotherhood of mutants wouldn't have a reason to exist, at least not in its current form.
If given the chance, could most humans be like that?
"Yeah, I changed the lock to a smart one," she heard a burly man say loudly up ahead of her.
He was standing in the middle of a door to an apartment building, holding it open while moving some tools. There were some odds and ends by his feet. He was a big fella who wore stained pants and a white-but stained sweatshirt that didn't conceal his gut nor stop it from poking out, but his arms were well built, he sported a wild red beard that reminded her of her father and wore gray cap that was well worn. He was on the phone, he had a drill in his hand and the phone in the other.
"Believe me, you want that fucker paying rent on time, or anyone else for that matter, this'll do it. Can't get in unless you text the entry code for the door. If there's an issue with rent again, give me a call and I can change it. Complaints? In New York? Buddy, your fine, Mayor Fisk is great for business hahahahaha."
Well, that sounded promising to Rogue's ears. Maybe she might not need to go to F.E.A.S.T. after all. When you spend a night at a shelter, you meet all sorts of folks, some who give tips and tricks for finding an unoccupied space to take up residence in for a while. She's stayed in abandoned homes before, but she never squatted in other people's homes before. Though the way they phrased it, it made Rogue tempted to try it a time or two, and this sounded like a chance to avoid the shelter.
She slipped off her gloves and quickly walked up to the apartment building.
"Buddy, anyone who can't pay rent, 'prolly can't afford to go to court either, you're fine. Just give me a call if we need to go nuclear. I know a few boys who can look intimidating and-"
"Pardon me, Sugah~" Rogue said as she moved past the man, who respectfully got out of her way, not bothering to verify if she was resident, barely taking in her ragged outfit as she brushed past him. She made sure her uncovered pink brushed against his hand with a tool by "accident."
Upon skin contact, she got what she wanted. A light touch, barely a fraction of a second was enough, and the point of contact barely let out a light to be noticeable.
"Whoa," the man let out, suddenly leaning on the wall behind him as he did his best to hold himself up, but he dropped both phone and power tool.
"You alright there, hon," she asked.
"Y-yeah, just," he shook his head and blinked rapidly, "too many nights without good sleep, I guess. Ugh, must've finally caught up with me," he let out as he got up.
"Oh that's no good, hon, sleep's important. Best get yourself a full rest tonight," she said, moving away.
"Ch-eah," he numbly agreed as he bent down and picked up his stuff with a tired expression, shook his drowsiness off and got back to his conversation on his phone with noticeably lower energy.
With that, Rogue made herself scarce and all but ran up the stairs.
She saw a few folks as she made her way through the apartment building, but they didn't pay her any mind and she didn't pay them any either. Some were just hanging out in the laundry room-every floor had one as far as she could tell.
From a brief light touch with her ability, she could only gain short term stuff the person was aware of. Like a room number and a code combination. She was also able to gather that the person who hadn't been paying rent on time was a single occupant who lived alone. He was the private sort that people didn't really know much about . Worst come worst, she'll deal with him.
She walked up to the very top and made her way to the door. It was old and has layers of paint on it, and it currently had a sticky note pressed against it.
[Text for code and to pay rent] was on said sticky note.
Rogue paused as she looked at the keypad on the door. She moved to press the code in…but hesitated. This was a crime. Asshole or just someone down on their luck, she didn't know, but did they deserve her breaking in and taking their hospitality for herself? Could she justify stooping down to humanity's level?
But a voice in the back of her head, her momma, kept telling her it was for the best. Humans were beneath them, she was a better than them in every way. And even if it was only the briefest of contacts, a new sense was there, a new logic that was slowly waning away, but while it lasted it agreed with the idea to take from the undeserving. If humans were beneath mutants, they were undeserving, simple as that.
With a huge, and shaky, intake of air, she steeled her resolve and forced her way in. It took her a while to "remember" the code, especially with such brief contact, but she was able to put it in on the second try.
The door opened from the right, inward, hitting a wall, and she was in.